Clouds for Us
by lost puppy love
Summary: On a day of rest from pirating, Zoro and Luffy watch the clouds drift by. A ZoroxLuffy OneShot. Please R&R! Thankyou very very much!


Hello everybody!

This is now my third fanfiction that I have ever written! Oooookay I should stop that now. But yes. I thought, ( although it pains me greatly XD ) that I should break away from my usual UsoSan pairingness, and try something else… so then out popped this story! Yay! So I hope you enjoy it, it contains a pairing that is very near and dear to my heart, because it makes me feel warm and fuzzy every time I read about it… oh the fluffiness:3

But enough of my yammerings. Let the fun begin! X3 LPL xxx

P.S. Only in my dreams do I own One Piece! So it isn't actually mine… sob…it belongs to Mr. Eiichiro Oda-sama!

P.P.S Sorry for the awful random title of this fanfiction…

**Clouds for Us**

The Going Merry bobbed lazily up and down on gentle, rolling waves, anchored in the shelter of a golden sunny bay.

The crew had split up for the day, taking a well-earned break from their usual pirating business.

Zoro now found himself alone at the top of a huge, grassy hill, overlooking the beach, now far below the dizzying height of the slope. The azure ocean stretched out, blue and empty, as far as the eye could see, glimmering invitingly. Zoro sighed, dropping his bundle of swords onto the soft grass at his feet. He sat down tiredly, flinching from the pain of a wound just above his left hip. Closing his eyes, he laid back, the warm breeze washing a heavy drowsiness over his whole body. He liked times like this- when he was alone, it was quiet, and there was no enemy to fight, no dumb-ass cook to argue with. When he could sleep without the risk of disturbance.

But as time passed, as he listened to the pressing silence being broken by the occasional rustle of the wind, he began to feel uncomfortable. Maybe… he didn't enjoy this isolation, this loneliness. Something was missing. And he probably wouldn't sleep until he had figured out _what_. Great, he thought. Just when I was about to relax.

Suddenly, he heard approaching footsteps upon the grass behind, the silhouette of Luffy's head appearing against the blazing sunshine above him. The black haired boy cocked his head with interest.

"You sleeping?"

Zoro sighed, Luffy's features becoming more distinct as his eyes grew used to the light.

"…no." he grunted, sounding a little more annoyed then he meant to.

The boy stood up straight again, gazing at the view over the bay. He turned to walk back the way he had come.

"Well, I'm off to see if I can find the others. I wonder if the fruit on the trees down there are edible…?"

At the sound of Luffy's retreating footsteps, Zoro sat up, twisting to see the boy about to disappear over the edge of the hill.

"Wait!" he called, and Luffy turned, his vest and hair caught in the light breeze. His mind temporarily ensnared by the sight of his Captain, a vision of simultaneous innocence and allure, Zoro faltered. Finding himself again, he shuffled round so that he could see better.

"You could… stay here for a while. Y'know, if you want to."

Luffy gave a beaming smile, bounding happily back over to the side of his first mate. He threw off his hat, and flopped onto his back into the thick, high grass. Shading his eyes from the sun with one hand, he tugged at the back of Zoro's shirt.

"Lie down with me, Zoro. It's nice and comfortable!"

Luffy let out a childish chuckle as Zoro leant backwards, slightly nervously, resting his head in the windswept grass. The black haired boy shuffled closer, his head now next to Zoro's, the weight of his body pressed against the swordsman's side. Zoro suppressed a wary gulp, colour beginning to creep into his cheeks. Luffy jabbed his finger up into the sky, pointing at a cloud skimming dreamily through the expanse of blue.

"Wow! Look at that! It looks like Usopp's head!"

Zoro laughed.

"No it doesn't, his nose isn't that long or lumpy."

Luffy pouted. He rolled onto his side, facing Zoro, his fluttering hair brushing the swordsman's cheek. He stared at him with a look of comical seriousness.

"You've just gotta use your _imagination, _Zoro! Look, see, if you turn your head round, that cloud looks like a chicken leg! Oooh! And when you turn _this _way, it looks like a snake eating a house!"

Zoro tore himself away from Luffy's beaming countenance, screwing his face up in concentration at the fluffy white masses above him. He glanced back at Luffy, who was still furtively looking for new shapes in the blue expanse. When he looked at the black-haired teenager, a fluttering feeling crept into his stomach, and his face began to burn. Turning reluctantly back to the sky, he smiled.

"Well, when you look at that one, it looks like your hat."

Luffy craned his neck to get the same viewpoint as Zoro, and screwed his nose up in cute disdain.

"How?"

Zoro leaned closer, glancing at Luffy's face as he tried to make out what he was seeing. He pointed up towards the heavens.

"Y' see? There's the brim… and that round bit there is the top…"

Luffy's eyes grew bright with understanding.

"Wow, yeah! I get it!"

He turned a sunny smile on the green haired man.

"This is fun, huh, Zoro?"

Zoro gave an awkward grin.

"Yeah… yeah, it is."

Luffy closed his eyes.

"I feel happy."

Zoro sighed, wispy black hair still tickling his cheek.

"Me too."

Luffy yawned, letting out a happy giggle as he did so. Cracking his eyes open, he smiled, resting his hands on his stomach.

"You see that big one? Behind the one that looks like Usopp?"

Zoro looked over to a cloud that was steadily drifting out to sea.

"…yeah?"

"It looks like us. Like what we're doing now. Just lying next to each other."

Zoro saw it, too. A smile played around the corners of his mouth. Luffy let out a few small chuckles.

"Funny."

They both lay there, in drowsy, contemplative silence, as the soft cottony shape began to break apart and drift off into the horizon. Luffy let out a small moan of disappointment.

"Awww, it's gone. It blew away."

Luffy stretched out his hand towards the sky, pretending that he was brushing his fingers through the clouds, trying to grab them from the air. Zoro watched as the teenager's hand strained to catch the white wisps that continued to swim lazily through the blue. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he reached out and grabbed Luffy's wrist, and the young boy turned his head towards him in surprise, his hand going limp in the swordsman's grip.

Zoro had found the cure. The cure for the pressing loneliness, now banished to the edge of that hazy horizon. It had been sitting with him all along, always smiling, always warm.

He clasped the black haired boy's hand in his, bringing it down to press against his lips. Luffy continued to gaze at him quizzically. Zoro sighed.

"Thankyou."

Luffy brightened.

"No problem! I mean, we could always play cloud-watching when we're on the ship! Then voyages would never have to be boring!"

Zoro laughed, letting go of the boy's hand.

"…O.K."

To his own slight surprise, he let out a huge yawn, a wave of sleepiness making his eyelids droop. He let out a long, drawn out sigh, his eyes closing gently. Luffy glanced at him, and then rolled over onto his side.

"Zoro? Hey, Zoro!"

He didn't answer, but instead let out a soft snore.

Luffy giggled quietly, covering his mouth to suppress it. He gazed at the green haired swordsman, who was now breathing slowly and gently. He shuffled forwards, pressing his lips affectionately on Zoro's temple, and then rested his head on Zoro's softly rising and falling chest. He leaned forward, and whispered into his first mate's ear.

" You make me so happy, Zoro. Not even the clouds can make me as happy as when I'm with you!"

He continued to gaze at the sleeping man, whose face wore a serene smile. He hugged him round the middle, closing his eyes to join his comrade in peaceful slumber.

"Just promise me you'll never drift away."

The End 

_Ramblings from the Writer!_

Ohohoho! Ooooh, the fluffiness! Well, that's ZoLu for you. I do love this pairing very much, and I'm not sure if I can decide why… I think it's because Zoro and Luffy's relationship is one of deep trust and understanding, and I think neither of them would have had much experience with romance or girls or anything like that, and I think that Zoro must have his tender side:3 I mean, he keeps the promise a little girl made him. His has a heart, the darling boy. In shonen-ai terms, ZoLu is a very innocent and tentative relationship… in my eyes, anyway. Heh. Oooh, and I also found out that Zoro's real, original, intended name is Lolonois Zolo. Named after a real pirate, apparently. Just shoot me if everyone knows this already, but there ya go… I prefer Zoro, though… he is a swordsman after all. But not all sweaty and smarmy like _Zorro_! **Our** Zoro is hot! Hah! Take that, Mexican fiend! XDDDD!


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